“Chicoans today are aware that the
issue of growth dominates local politics. That was true in
1982, too, only then the focus was on westside development.
Protecting prime agricultural land was the central issue in
local elections, particularly those for the county Board of
Supervisors, under whose jurisdiction most ag land fell.
The pressure to develop to the west was
immense. Orchard lands are flat and the soil is clean and
easily drained, perfect for building, and Chico was growing
fast.
But the soil is also inestimably rich,
a deep loam deposited over millennia by the annual flooding of
creeks and the Sacramento River. To many people, it seemed
stupid, even vaguely sacrilegious to pave over such productive
land, especially when Chico had plenty of open, low-yield
grazing land on its east side.
In 1974, when a young former student
body president at Chico State University, Jane Dolan, ran for
the District 2 seat on the county Board of Supervisors, she
made protection of westside farm land one of her highest
priorities. Her opponent, liquor store owner and former
high-school civics teacher Bernie Richter, also voiced support
for saving ag land, but less passionately.
Richter narrowly won the hotly
contested race. Once in office, however, he changed course,
supporting a rezone of a large parcel along West Sacramento
Avenue—what is now the subdivision called Big Chico Creek
Estates. That, and his support of other proposed projects on
westside ag land, led to a recall effort in 1976, but it
failed.
Dolan ran again in 1978, and again
saving ag land was her rallying cry. This time, much to
Richter’s surprise, she won.
Once on the board, Dolan continued her
effort to protect farm land. She posited the idea of creating
a line that would permanently separate urban and agricultural
areas on the west side. For the first two years of her tenure,
however, she was a voice crying in the wilderness, losing most
board votes 4-1.
Then, in 1980, Paradise voters elected
Len Fulton, a writer and publisher, to the board. Fulton
agreed with Dolan about saving farm land and supported her
successful effort to have county staff and the Planning
Commission study the issue.
Support for the “green
line” increased. In 1981 liberals swept the City Council
elections, and they supported it. Meanwhile, a coalition of
farmers, environmentalists and developers began meeting to see
if its members could agree on such a line.”
